Ongoing
by jaybearxx
Summary: Clementine and Ellie are surviving together in a world full of infected and walkers. They come across a tree house full of supplies. Ellie begins to realize her attraction to Clementine along the way.
1. Chapter 1

I felt her cool breath on my neck as she curled into my side under that old oak tree. Her breath tickled my neck and sent shivers down my spine. As long as I had her by my side, I felt safe and secure. I felt her start to relax as she fell asleep, but there was no time for that.

"Clem we need to get a move on, it will be dark soon." The smaller girl sat herself up and stretched.

"Can't we just stay here a little while longer?" There were dark bags under her eyes. It had been days since she even got a full length sleep. I felt bad that I had ruined the chance she had to rest, but we weren't safe out here in the open. Not with the infected around.

"We need to find somewhere safe, with shelter. Then you can sleep." Clementine grumbled something under her breath that I couldn't quite make out.

"Fine. Let's go then."

For the past few days, Clem and I had been trying to make our way further up north, to denser forested areas. We'd been hoping to find a cabin or something to hold out in for as long as possible. The cold weather down north would slow down the infected- hopefully. But we had nothing to lose, so we decided to risk our chances and move down there.

Hours past as we followed the compass I had found back at Tommy's when I was with Joel. That place was overrun within weeks of living there. As I tried to get away, Joel and I got separated and who even knows where he is now? I just hope he's safe. That's where I met Clem. She was being chased by two infected, so I saved her ass. I've been with her ever since. She and I walked through open fields and small wooded areas. I noticed Clementine kept walking slower and slower, due to exhaustion.

"Hey! Look over there!" I pointed to the trees.

"Is that a tree house? I used to have one of these!"

"Maybe we could live up there for a little while. It's high up enough that infected can't reach us and it has a roof to keep the rain out."

We ventured out closer to the structure. The tree house was made up of a nice dark wood.

"I don't see a ladder around here. How are we going to get up?"

"I've got an idea." We looked around for an opening to climb up.

"Here, I'll boost ya, and you tell me if it looks clear." I kneeled down for Clem to step onto my hands, and pushed her up into the opening.

"How's it looking up there Clem?"

"Looks clear!" Her hand held out for mine through the opening. "I'll help you up."

I jumped up and grabbed the girl's hand, and she pulled me up. The inside of the tree house was large, and the trunk of the tree ran up through the center and had a ladder leading up the side, and another opening on the ceiling. The walls were painted a light faded purple. The wall to the left had a small sofa and blanket rested against it, and the wall to the right had a door way. The door had a bridge attached, leading to a small wooden ledge around a bigger tree. It was an apple tree. This wasn't just a tree house, it was a tree palace. Clem and I had struck gold.

"We-" I looked over to Clementine who's eyes were lit up with joy.

"We can live here!" She smiled at me and I smiled back.

"What's up here?" she climbed the ladder leading up to the opening in the ceiling, and I followed behind her.

"There's another room? Wow this place is bigger than it seems."

The next room had a small mattress and pillows laying on top. Beside the mattress there was a pile of comic books and novels.

"Okay now this place just got perfecter." I joked.

"Well of course. You ARE the biggest dork I know."

"Shut up." I looked through the comic books. They were all the issues of Angel Knives. I stared blankly at the comics as memories flushed my brain. I must've zoned out or something because Clem snapped me back into reality.

"What's wrong Ellie? I thought you loved comics."

"I do its just- I had a friend who knew everything about her and... yeah." I set the comics back down. I don't think I'll be reading those.

"Forget those. Maybe we should just look around more. See if there's anything worth having. I'll take downstairs and you take up here." She nodded.

I climbed back down the ladder and looked beside the small sofa. Three crates were lined up beside it. The tops were covered in dust and the sides were peeling. The lids were nailed tight into the crates, so I took a hammer out of my backpack and used the back to remove each of the nails. The first crate was filled with bags of potato chips. Well that's good to know. At least we have some sort of food. The next crate held a few boxes of matches and an old oil lantern. The final crate held a few canned foods. The labels had been worn off so we just had to hope it was something good.

"You find anything up there Clem?"

"Nah not much. Just some more books. You find anything good?"

"I found quite a bit of food, and I found an oil lantern and some matches."

"Great. Those will come in handy."

"Mhm."

There was nothing left down here, so I opened the door that lead to the apple tree. The bridge was wobbly and unstable. I wrapped my hand around the ropes supporting the bridge and made my way to the other platform. It was high enough up so that I could reach the apples if I stood on my toes. I picked some for Clem and me. They were shiny and a bright shade of red. I placed them in my backpack. The platform could also be used as a look out for infected or bandits. Wind blew through my hair as I looked out onto the horizon. I could see the faint outline of a lake as the sun set over it. It was getting dark so I went back inside with the apples.

I climbed back up to where she had been searching. Clem stood there looking out the window of the room. I never really noticed how beautiful she was- until now. Her posture was very straight, and she had a small frame. She looked helpless on her own. Anyone could have mistaken her for someone younger. But she was fierce and brave. That was when I started to admire her. I couldn't be falling for her… could I? She did remind me a bit of- No. I shouldn't have even been thinking of her. I shook my head and looked and sat on the small mattress. I let out a sigh as I tried to clear my thoughts. I didn't even notice Clem had sat next to me until she wrapped her arms around my sides.

"I know something's bothering you, and whatever it is I'm here and I'll listen."

My cheeks heated up. Was it really that obvious that something was wrong? I leaned my head into Clementine's neck. I tried to hold back the tears that were filling up my eyes, but they flowed out and landed on her shoulder. She must've noticed because she only held me tighter. I don't know how long we sat there. But I do know that I never wanted to leave this girl's side. Ever.


	2. Chapter 2

Clem and I sat side by side on an old log we had rolled over to our tree house. The sky was dark and starry, and everything was silent except for the crickets chirping, and the crackling of our very, _very bad_ fire.

"This is a very pathetic fire." I joked as I roasted a can of beans over the embers.

"Well that's what you get for letting me light it." She laughed as I passed her the can. She took a spoonful and passed it back to me. The beans were sort of cold. I took a spoonful and shoved it in my mouth. The fire wasn't giving off much heat.

"I'm going to get more wood and _hopefully_ this fire won't be a complete joke after all."

"Don't be too long." A look of concern crossed her face.

"Yeah yeah. I got my bow, and you've got your gun. Give me a shout if you need anything. And _try_ not to be scared." I winked and walked off into the woods.

It was dark so I flipped my flashlight on. I checked behind trees for anything I could use. Surprisingly, there was no good sized sticks or wood. I was stuck gathering the puny skinny twigs hidden under leaves. I searched under piles of leaves and grass.

As I was walking back to our campfire, I heard a scream and a gunshot. I immediately dropped the twigs and ran.

"CLEM!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

_Oh my god. Oh my fucking god. _I pulled out my pistol and bolted to where I had left the girl. _I knew I shouldn't have left her. _As I was running, I heard two more gun shots. I had to hurry. When I finally made it, I saw Clem standing beside the trunk of our tree house. Her gun was out and there were three walkers laying on the ground. I sighed a breath of relief.

"Oh my god are you okay?"

She was shaking and fell into my arms. I wrapped both of my arms around her and held her in a tight hug.

"I shouldn't have left." I said feeling guilty.

Her arms wrapped around me.

"It's okay. You needed to."

_No, it wasn't okay. I should have been there protecting her._

"Let's just get inside to safety. We can forget that can of beans."

The can had fallen over and spilled into the dirt. Not worth anything now. Clem nodded.

"Alright you know how to do this." I held out my hands to boost her up into the tree, and she grabbed my hand to pull me up. I flicked on my flash light on and closed the opening we used to get up.

"Tomorrow we make a ladder for this thing. You're hard to pull up!"

"Is that a fat joke?" I teased

"Oh please. Like we could ever get fat with our limited supply of food."

She did have a point. I mean, who knew how long we even had until our cans of food and chips ran out. We'd be left with only apples, and we _can't_ just live off of apples. We're going to have to go out and hunt at some point. I just really didn't want to leave her alone again. That was a mistake I will _never_ make again.

"Alright, I guess we could try to make a ladder, maybe make this place a bit safer too."

"How on earth could we make this safer?"

"We'll figure it out. Maybe safe enough so we can roast food in peace."

"Maybe we could find marshmallows or something. I used to _looove_ marshmallows!"

"I've never had them before." I laughed. I wonder if she knew how cute she was when she got excited.

"But I GUESS we can be on the lookout for them." Her eyes lit up. _Okay_ it's official. Clementine is cute. Especially when she's happy. Even I can't escape the truth.

"Wait, I almost forgot." I pulled an apple out of my bag, that I had packed away earlier and handed it to her. She took it from me and bit into the shiny red fruit.

"God it's been _forever_ since I had any fresh fruit! I was getting awfully tired of the gross dried fruits."

"Same here. Those are pretty gross!" I threw my bag onto the couch and took a bite out of my apple. It was the sweetest thing I've tasted. It was a good thing we had an unlimited supply of those now. I could get used to eating apples all the time.

"My mom used to say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away." Said Clem.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know I guess it means that if we eat apples we won't get sick?"

"I seriously doubt that."

"Yeah me too. " We laughed. I loved how I could talk to her about anything and we could always find something to laugh about. I don't know what it was about her. Even if we didn't have a home, with her I felt at home. We finished off our apples and headed upstairs.

I sat down on the mattress and reclined on the pillows.

"Maybe we should take watch duties. Just in case."

"For what?" I asked "Not like the infected can just climb up here. Besides, I closed the hatch. There's no getting in here."

"_Fine_." She paused. "If you won't watch, I will. "

"No Clem, you haven't slept in days. You need this sleep. I'll keep you safe alright?" She nodded slowly. I stood up off the mattress and headed for the ladder going down.

"I'll just sleep on the couch downstairs. You need the mattress and I-"

"Can you just stay here with me please?" I lifted my eyebrow and grinned

"You want me to stay? What, are you scared?" I teased.

"No just- just _stay_. Please Ellie?"

"Fine!" I laughed.

"Thank you!" Her lips formed into a smile. Did I ever mention that she has an amazing smile? Clem took off her hat and jumped down onto the old mattress. I laid down beside her. I pulled the blanket up over her and turned away.

"Hey you need some too." She pulled some over me and I felt her breath on my back. I turned over to face her. Her big hazel eyes met mine. My cheeks heated up. _She also has very pretty eyes._ She curled into me and I wrapped my arm around her.

After a while of just staring at her, her breaths got short and steady as she drifted to sleep. I nuzzled her closer. When she was asleep, she looked so tiny and fragile. She was vulnerable like a small child. Her body was warm and fit perfectly into mine. I rested my head on hers and closed my eyes. How was I lucky enough to end up with someone like her? As I got lost in my thoughts I drifted off to sleep.

"Ellie! Ellie wake up!" My eyes burst open and I saw Clem leaning over me. The bright light of the morning blinded my eyes.

"Hm? What's wrong? What happened?"

"Just listen!" I heard the faint sounds of a clicker coming from under us.

"Oh shit how'd it get in here?"

"It's not in here its outside idiot! I already checked downstairs."

"Must've heard the gunshots last night."

"Sorry I drew it to us."

"Don't apologize. You needed to protect yourself when I failed to-"

"Failed to protect me?" She asked. "I can protect myself."

"No. I want to be the one to protect you alright?"

She shook her head and smirked.

"Righhht. Whatever you say!"

I jumped out of bed and climbed down the ladder to downstairs. Clem followed after me. I grabbed the bow and arrow I had left in my bag. I gestured my hand for Clem to stay put, and I opened the door to the apple tree. The unstable bridge wobbled under my feet, I had to hold on to the rope railings to keep steady. The clicker was standing beside the old log we sat on last night.

_Ugly fucker_ I thought to myself as I drew my bow. I aimed right for the back of its mushroomy head. I let the arrow fly and it implanted right in the back of the skull, and it made a loud crunch noise. The body fell to the ground. I scrunched my nose in disgust as some sort of liquid spewed from the arrow wound. I stared for a minute, shook my head, and walked back inside.

"Did you get it?" Clem asked eagerly.

"Yeah. Just got to get my arrow back now."

I opened the hatch heading outside and jumped out. I landed in a pile of leaves with a loud thud, and Clem followed after me. I walked over to the motionless clicker and kicked it to make sure it was dead, and ripped my arrow out.

"What should we do with the body?"

"I don't know. Move it maybe?"

"I really don't wanna touch that thing."

"And you think I do?" I bent down and grabbed under its arms.

"You grab its feet and help me move it over there behind those bushes."

She hesitantly walked over and grabbed where I told her, and we lifted the body._ Fuck this thing is heavy_.

We walked over to the bushes and threw it behind.

"Well that takes care of that. Let's go cook up some breakfast." I started walking infront of her back to the tree.

"Wait." She said."

I paused.

"What?"

"I just wanted to say, thank you for saving me back at Tommy's. You could have left me to find Joel. But you didn't. I don't know why, but you didn't. Thank you for taking me with you."

I looked her in the eyes, and pulled her into my arms.

"I'm glad I saved you. As much as I want Joel here, I'm glad I saved you. I don't know where I'd be right now without you."

"With Joel maybe."

My grip around her tightened.

"Honestly, I'd probably dead." I held her there for what felt like forever, until she pulled away and grabbed my hand.

"Let's go get that breakfast."


	3. Chapter 3

Clementine sat on our little sofa, staring out into the rainy forest. Not a word was said between us, and the only sounds to be heard was the rain hitting the window, and the sound of me rummaging through our food supply.

Weeks had passed since we moved into the tree house. Nights were getting shorter and cooler, and our food supply was running low. What seemed like an infinite amount of food ran out quicker than we thought. I sorted through our small pile of potato chips and cans.

"Well that leaves us with four bags of chips, and 5 cans of food." Clementine was huddled in the corner of the sofa, staring at the small pile I had made.

"And the apples will stop growing soon." She said with a sigh.

"We're going to need to start doing runs. Y'know, for food and stuff. We're going to need to start hunting, too."

"I don't know how to hunt." Clem stared out through the window. I was starting to wonder what was on her mind. She had never been this quiet before.

"And that's why, I'm gonna teach you to use my bow." She looked back over to me, and a little bit of sparkle was back in her eyes. She let out a small breath of laughter.

"What?" I raised an eyebrow "What's so funny?"

"Nothing! I've just always found your bow super cool! That's all!"

I couldn't help but giggle. Clem was just being her cute self, and that was something I loved about her. She could always turn the smallest, stupidest thing into something silly.

"You're such a fuckin' dork" I said with a sigh.

"Well, I _have_ been living with you. Where do you think I get it from?" She leaned back down onto the arm of the sofa, kicked up her feet, and pulled a comic out from under her.

"Yeah, well you're still a dork." I looked back at our supply of food and pulled out an apple I had picked yesterday.

"You want one?" I asked holding it out towards her. She didn't even look away from her comic, and held out her hand for me to toss it to her.

"Thanks" she said, biting into the apple. I pulled one out for myself, and sat down on the sofa next to her. I felt her small body lean into mine. This had become some sort of routine for us. I'd sit down, and she'd lean right into me. Not that I was _upset_ about it. I mean, I always felt a spark of joy with her near me. Even the smallest touch from her, whether it was a high five, or a hug, it put butterflies in my stomach.

Over the past few weeks, a lot of work had been done to our tree house. We found a stack of wood planks behind the bush under the tree. We patched up the leaks in the roof we had discovered after the first rainfall, and we had even started working on a ladder to climb into the tree with. We had also found some extra rope that had most likely been used for the bridge to the apple tree. We attached our empty cans and bags to it and tied it around the perimeter of our little camp. It was kind of like an alarm if a walker or infected was trying to pass through. It's only gone off once or twice, so that was a good indicator that the area was safe, and I could protect Clem even better.

"So what now?" I asked, finishing off my apple.

"I guess we could find something to do after the rain clears up."

"Yeah ill teach you how to set snares and maybe-" Gunshots went off in the distance.

"Holy shit! Did you hear that too?!" Clem said nervously. I jumped off the sofa and ran to my bag. I grabbed my rifle and tossed it to her, and I took my bow for myself.

"Get upstairs, and stay low. You can snipe if you need to. I'll sneak to the apple tree and check it out." Clem nodded and scurried upstairs. I grabbed the binoculars from my bag and opened the door. Wind and rain blew through my hair as I made my way across the bridge. We hadn't heard any gunshots in this area except for ours. When I go to the platform around the apple tree, I ducked and pulled out my binoculars.

I couldn't see anything other than the trees swaying in the wind. _This isn't going to work._ I needed an alternate decision. I needed to be above the trees. I turned around and eyed the big apple tree. I jumped and grabbed ahold of one of the branches. The slippery bark was hard to keep ahold of, but I managed. I pulled myself up and planted my foot on the branch. _Okay it's just a short climb up from here_. I pulled myself up through all the branches, and the wind nearly made me fly off a few times. I had finally made it to the top. Leaves and branches crisscrossed all around me.

I pulled out my binoculars once again. The view was much clearer from up here. I peeked through the binoculars and looked to where the gunshots had come from. I didn't see anything unusual- _Never mind_. In the far distance, I saw two people running through an open field. I adjusted my binoculars to get a closer look. One was a woman, and one was a younger girl. Both were dark skinned and were running for their lives. Not too far behind them were two runners. I don't blame them for running. I remembered that horrible experience I had at the mall years and years ago. Running away from dozens of infected. It was all coming back to me again. I didn't want to remember how I lost my best friend that day. But I couldn't fight my thoughts.

"Ellie?" I opened my eyes. Clementine's voice called out from under me. The rain had cleared out and blue sky was just peeking through the clouds.

"Oh shit I didn't fall asleep did I?"

"You must have. I was getting worried. Why'd you hang around out here so long? It's been hours."

"I don't know I just- I don't know."

The bark was damp from the rain, and still a bit slippery. I eased my way down the tree slowly. I hadn't told Clem about the day I was bitten, or how I had lost Riley. I made my way to the ledge of the tree, and fell into her arms. I bent down and buried myself into the crook of her neck. I felt her arms wrap around me

"Shh it's okay now Ellie." She said calmly. I couldn't help myself. Tears started forming in my eyes. Oh how lost I'd be without her. She made everything okay.

She pulled away and looked into my eyes. My eyes fluttered to her lips and then back onto her strong stare. I wanted to kiss her- _Oh how badly I wanted to kiss her. _But I didn't even know if she felt the same way. Clem grabbed my hand.

"Let's get inside and tell me what you saw." I nodded. She led me across the bridge and in the door. She was acting like the older mature one, even though I was probably around 17 and she was only a small 15 year old- or fourteen. She looked way younger than she probably was. We never even kept track of our age. That kind of thing wasn't even important anymore. Clem sat me down on the small sofa, and sat right next to me, not letting go of the grip she had on my hand.

"Well?" She said with a firm, but soft tone.

"I saw two women just running away from some infected. They must have run out of ammo or something." She nodded.

"I wish we could have helped them. But they were too far away. My bow would never shoot that far."

"Yeah, I get it."

A moment of awkward silence passed between us. We weren't even looking at each other, but somehow, when I looked back up to her, our eyes met once again. I bit my lip and let out a sigh. I thought I should tell her about Riley, but what was the point? The past was the past. Even if she deserved to know, it didn't matter anymore. I mean, _of course it mattered. _ I just knew that there was nothing I could do to get her back. I still had her pendant in my bag. It was the only piece I had left of her.

"I need to show you something." I said standing up and breaking our hands apart. I walked over to my bag and unzipped it. I reached far down inside until I felt the metal chain around my fingers, and pulled it out.

"What are you doing with a firefly pendant?" She asked seeming concerned.

"You deserve to know how I was bitten." I held the pendant firmly in my hand and looked at the name engraved into it. I told her about the first time I met Riley. How she beat up those kids pushing me around when I got off that bus. How her and I went to the mall, the carousel… I smiled thinking of her. I told her how Riley got bit saving me from that damn infected, and how we pledged to just 'lose our minds together'.

"I had no idea..." she said with a sigh.

"I know, I should have told you earlier… That's why I was in the tree for so long. I was just thinking of her... and-" Her face was moving closer to mine. I felt her breath as she moved closer. My cheeks heated up. I felt her lips softly press onto mine. I closed my eyes and leaned into her. Butterflies swarmed in my belly, I felt the feeling I had learned to forget.

After what seemed like an eternity, she pulled away.

"I won't ever leave you." She said looking at me. "And I will always be there for you, you understand?"

I nodded.

"Thank you."


	4. Chapter 4

I jolted awake screaming. The nightmare was still fresh in my mind. The image of a long lost friend's eyes still stood clear in my thoughts. Sweat trickled down my back- my t-shirt was soaked! I sat upright shivering, with tears streaming down my face.

"Ellie!" Clem burst upright and turned my head gently to look at her. Her big hazel eyes were filled with concern. She lifted her hand to the corner of my eye and gently wiped away my tears.

"It's okay it's okay, it was just a nightmare." I looked down and shook my head. That was a lie. It wasn't just a nightmare, it was _much, much_ worse. Clementine wrapped her arms around me, and ran her fingers through my messy hair. She cradled me there and hummed a quiet tune.

"Go back to sleep, it's alright now." She planted a soft kiss on my forehead. I closed my eyes and listened to her soothing hum, and the darkness of sleep consumed me.

I woke up and Clementine was no longer beside me. I sat upright and yawned. My long, auburn hair covered my face and was full of knots. I pulled myself off the mattress and looked into the broken mirror hanging on the wall. I was a mess. My freckly cheeks had cuts and scratches on them. I didn't know what from, but I was guessing I had scratched myself last night. I detangled the knots in my hair with my fingers and pulled it back into my usual ponytail. I changed from my cold t-shirt, which was now cold from the dried sweat, and pulled my jeans on over my under shorts, along with my black-and-white sneakers. I climbed down the ladder and noticed Clem wasn't around.

"Clem?" I called out. No answer. That was strange.

"Clem!" I called out once again, more loudly this time. Still no answer. Where had that girl gone?

"Clem!" I screeched out. I grabbed my bag off the sofa and jumped out of the entrance of the tree house.

I analyzed the muddy ground for foot prints. I spotted small prints leading into the deep woods. I ran my finger against the print. It was hours old. Worry flushed through me. _I can't lose her. I can't afford to lose someone again_. I wiped my muddy hand against the leg of my pants, and ran into the woods following the tracks. _What was she thinking?_ I picked up my pace.

"CLEM!" I shouted through the dark woods.

"Where the fuck are you?!" I was getting more worried by the minute. I began thinking of why she would leave me. Did I do something? Did I say something wrong? Did I- It hit me. She wouldn't leave unless she needed to lead someone or something away. I jogged to a slow stop. I heard muffled yelling and screaming. I pulled out my bow, and listened closer.

"You won't get away with th-"

"And how are you planning to stop-"

"She'll com-" _Clementine._ I kept walking, following the tracks as the conversation got louder. I came across a small, shabby cabin. I sneaked to the window at the side, and took a peak. I saw the younger girl tied to a chair, and a man with a whip stood there smirking. My mouth dropped, and I let out a gasp. It must have been a loud gasp because both Clem and the man turned my way. I heard the horrible laugh of the man.

"So there's another… This should be fun." _Not this again_. I remembered the horrible memories stored in the back of my mind of David. But this was worse. He had the one I loved, and I would stop at nothing to save her.

"Hey fuck face!" I yelled and jumped up to look in the window. My bow was drawn, but the only thing sitting in the room was the chair, and Clem's baseball cap sat on top of it. I sprinted around to the door and tried opening it._ Shit._ It was locked. I used all my strength and kicked the door open. Adrenaline pumped through my veins. The cabin was empty. I walked over to Clem's hat and stuffed it in my bag. Where could they possibly be hiding? I walked slowly through the cabin, the floor creaking under my feet.

A book case and a mattress laid in the corner. I kicked aside the mattress and found a secret opening in the floor. I took a breath and jumped down. I hit the bottom of the hole. A long tunnel was in front of me.

"LET ME THE FUCK GO!" I heard Clementine screaming, and immediately ran through the tunnel.

"Quit your squirming little girl! And would you shut the fuck- OW! Alright that's it!" I sped up, running through the tunnel and finally came across the man, and Clem. She was tied up and in the corner. Duct tape covered her mouth. She looked at me with fear in her eyes.

"Never knew you were smart enough to find us..." The man smirked.

"Shut the fuck up you psychopath." I drew my knife from my pocket. He pounced on me, and nailed me to the ground. He pinned my hands above my head and it took all my strength to push him up. His breath reeked of liquor. I straddled him and held the knife to his neck.

"You're not going to do it." He said, his voice cracking.

"I will put an end to this right now. You hear me?" I put more pressure on his neck, and a prick of blood dropped out. He just laid there chuckling at me. It was sickening. I was enraged. Who did this guy think he was? What the fuck was he thinking?

"Tell me what the _fuck_ you were going to do with her." He stayed silent. "Fucking tell me!" I spat out at him. The man coughed.

"I just wanted some fun…" He was now talking hoarsely. "And we still can have some fun."

"You fucking disgust me. And I _will_ put an end to you. I won't feel guilty. I won't have any shame." Sweat trickled down the side of the man's face.

"Then just fucking do it already!" I leaned into him, knife still pressing on his neck.

"You won't touch my girl again. _Ever_." I stabbed the knife deep into his throat. He choked for a few seconds, and finally, silence. It was brutal really. Maybe a bit too brutal? Nope. I could be as brutal as I needed to be, to keep Clementine safe.

I got up, kneeled down to Clem and untied her, removing the tape from her mouth.

"Ah fuck." She said, wincing in pain. I pulled her into my arms.

"The fuck were you thinking Clem?"

"I was thinking of keeping us safe…" I cradled her in my arms for a few moments and pulled away to look at her, my hands holding her face.

"You scared the shit out of me!"

"I- I'm sorry… I didn't mean for you to get all worried-"I planted my lips to her forehead, and then to her lips. I felt her tense up, but then she relaxed, kissing me back. After a while I pulled away. I didn't want to, but it could be any time now for the man to turn. I stood up and offered her my hand. She grabbed it and I helped her up.

"Let's get outta here." I said, leading her down the tunnel. I wondered if the man had dug it out by hand, or if whoever lived here before shit went down used it as a hiding place. It didn't matter anymore though, the only thing that mattered was Clementine was safe with me. We exited the cabin and walked through the thick woods. It was a nice day, the sun was shining and I could hear some birds chirping. Silence passed between us until Clem spoke up.

"So I'm _your girl_ huh?" My face heated up.

"Well- I- No… I mean yes. Yes I guess you are!" I looked over at her and she had a grin on her face. "I mean if you… would like to be."

"Y'know being _your girl_ wouldn't be such a bad thing." I stopped walking and turned around to her. She was close to me, I leaned down to her, because she was only a bit taller than my chest. I moved my face close to her.

"Then I guess…" I said softly, "You're my girl." Before I could do it myself, she closed the space between our faces, lips pressing to mine once again. I closed my eyes, and butterflies shot up through my stomach. We pulled away at the same time, and I smiled like an idiot.

"Almost forgot!" I took off my bag and pulled out Clem's old baseball cap out, and placed it on her head. She adjusted it and smiled.

"Thanks I almost didn't notice it was gone!" I smirked at her and grabbed her hand.

"Let's get moving." Hand in hand we walked back to our little camp. I kept asking myself how I could have deserved someone like her, I didn't think I'd ever know.

When we got back to our camp, Clem sat herself down on the small log and played with her lighter, while I inspected our camp. No infected had passed through in a while, in fact it had been weeks since our last encounter with one anywhere near the tree. I tugged on the rope with cans attached to it. The alarm-thing was still in good shape. I remembered when Joel taught me this technique back when we were travelling together. I still wondered if he was alright, where he was… he couldn't be _dead_ could he? Then it hit me. I pretty much abandoned Joel when Tommy's was overrun. Guilt consumed me. There was no way I could find him now, even if he _was_ alive.

I needed to do something to take my mind off of it, so I picked up some fire wood from the little pile Clem and I had collected, and brought it over to our fire pit. I placed it in the middle.

"Can you light that?" I asked. "I'm gonna go get a can of food."

"Sure" Clem answered. She kneeled down beside the pit and flicked on her lighter. I walked over to our ladder and picked it up. We had finished the construction of our ladder a few days ago, which was good. Now I didn't need to boost Clem every time I wanted to get in. I propped it up against the trunk of the tree and climbed up. I went over to where the food was, and grabbed a can, then grabbed my sweater off of the floor and pulled it on over my head. The sweater was a little big on me, considering I had a small-ish frame.

A few moments later I came back out of the tree house. The darkness of the night was only dawning upon us, but the stars shone bright. The fire Clem made was small, but it was good enough for me. I sat next to Clem and pulled out my pocket knife. It had been my mom's before she died. I remembered back to when Marlene gave it to me when I was with Riley. I popped off the lid of the can with the blade.

"Damn, beans _again._" I sighed at the sight of the beans in the can.

"Jesus, how many beans did this guy eat?"

"I'm guessing he had a LOT of gas." Clem giggled at my stupid joke. I placed the can on the ground close to the fire to heat up, and Clem rested her head on my shoulder. She was shivering. I don't blame her, she was only wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt.

"Wait a sec." I stood up and removed my slightly large sweater, and handed it to her.

"Aren't you going to be cold?" She asked hesitantly taking the sweater from me.

"Nah. After all, I have you to keep me warm don't I?" She smiled and pulled the sweater over top of her shirt.

"This is huge!" Her arms were too short for the sleeves and it hung down to the middle of her thighs. I couldn't help but laugh, it was cute.

"I find it kinda cute on you actually." I sat back down next to her. I looked over to her and noticed her blushing. I put my arm around her and pulled her into me. Back when I saved her, I promised myself I wouldn't get too attached to her, but it was too late, I had broken my promise. I planted a light kiss on her forehead and we watched the fire in silence.


End file.
